Only a Faint Trace of Competence?

One might hope that the UK's £12bn Test and Trace system would be working effectively by now (it has had more than 6 months to practice). This is especially so, as numerous people have pointed out that an accurate and speedy mechanism would be essential for dealing with a widely-predicted 2nd wave of Covid-19 infections. It is now claimed that, in mid October, UK's Test and Trace was hit with an unspecified 'massive IT failure' (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/12/englands-test-and-trace-system-hit-by-huge-it-problems-last-month). This resulted in delays of up to 48 hours before reaching potentially infected people (rather than the 24 hours, seen as a minimum requirement of an effective system). The IT failure occurred precisely at the time when Covid-19 infections were rising exponentially here and particularly involved transmitting results to hospitals and care homes (where infections spread rapidly, often with devastating consequences). It's hardly remarkable that the UK has (for Europe) record death levels from the virus. I would have expected something considerably better for £12bn!